SS Coaches whats ur point on this hint for stronger press

[sunetdanne]

Hello.

If the link is not allowed just remove it.

http://ditillo2.blogspot.se/2008/04/...les-smith.html

What your toughts about this?

Try out the following methods and make the adjustments necessary to your press. As you take hold of the bar in preparation to clean, press down on it before pulling it in to the shoulders. You will find that this tends to contract the trapezius muscles. When the bar arrives into the pressing position, keep the traps contracted and point the elbows forward a little. You will have a humped back appearance. Start your press upward and slightly back . . . Do not press in a backward direction until you are well clear of the crown, and at the same time relax the trapezius muscles. You will find that the bar carries on smoothly to the finish position and you should be able to start the weight away from the shoulders without a jerky commencement and with a much smoother and more powerful finish.

Regards
Daniel

[Tom Campitelli]

I don't think that relaxing the traps is really possible during an overhead press.

[Dastardly]

60s technique articles always read like riddles. I can only figure that this is some sort of method to cheat at the lockout, as if your traps are shrugged for most of the movement but you drop them just before the lockout. It may lower your shoulders enough to reduce ROM by a few mm.

But as Tom said, its pretty hard to imagine doing it during a maximal press.

[Gwyn Brookes]

It is not possible to lift the arms overhead without using the trapezius. If you want the look of a dropped shoulder, you contract the lats, which draws the shoulders down. This is done against the contraction of the trapezius and produces the "relaxed" look of the shoulder which is necessary for any ballet dancer with arms in 5th position - an unweighted position, by the way.